A Big Chocolate Heart
by Marquise de Nile
Summary: A Valentine's Day story about a concerned father and his mischievous daughter. Just who is the chocolate heart for?


**A Big Chocolate Heart**

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When Sasuke returned home from another short assignment, he was instantly put on alert by the sweet smell that turned his stomach with anxiety. It was dredging up some very unpleasant childhood memories of screeching girls chasing him around the village and showering him with sweets he'd rather die than eat. Full of dark premonitions, Sasuke followed the foul smell to the place of its origin.

The kitchen was the epicenter—the smell was coming from the pot with a brown and disgusting concoction boiling inside. In front of the stove stood his daughter, dressed in a frilly apron over sweats and stirring in the pot like a witch in her cauldron with poison. Sarada's focused, clinical look put an unknown fear into Sasuke's heart as he watched her from the entrance.

Sasuke cleared his throat and she looked over at him.

"Oh, hi, Papa," she said. "You're already back?"

"Yes." He came closer to make himself tea. "What are you doing?"

"Chocolate for tomorrow," Sarada replied and turned off the stove.

Sasuke's brow furrowed. "What's tomorrow?"

"You don't know? It's Valentine's Day."

Sarada took the pot off the stove and started pouring the melted chocolate with a ladle into the standard, rectangular molds which were laid out on the kitchen table. Sasuke's sharp eyes immediately noticed that one mold was different from the rest. It was much bigger... and shaped like a heart.

Sasuke's inner dread spiked at the sight of Sarada pouring the chocolate into that mold.

"Your teammates wouldn't eat so much chocolate," he said, fishing for some more information.

"I know, I'm giving them only one small piece each. Believe me, stupid Boruto gets sick every year because Himawari makes him test her chocolate and he eats too much. And Mitsuki doesn't care about the taste."

"You still made a lot," Sasuke pointed out.

Sarada shrugged. "Yeah, it's a custom. I'm giving chocolate to all my guy friends."

Sasuke stared at the mass of chocolate bars congealing all over the kitchen table. His daughter sure had a lot of 'guy friends' and he wasn't sure what to think about it.

"You can have one if you'd like," Sarada offered, mistaking his prolonged look at the chocolates for yearning.

"I don't like sweets," Sasuke replied in a knee-jerk reaction.

"Ah, so that's why Mama isn't making chocolates this year too," Sarada commented.

Sasuke's interest was picked. "She did in the past?"

"Yes, when she was teaching me." Sarada swiped at the chocolate-covered ladle and put the finger in her mouth. It must have tasted good, because her eyes immediately lit up and she quickly cleaned the ladle off in the same manner. "Since you're here, you should get Mama something for tomorrow," his daughter mentioned off-handedly. "You're getting her something, right?" she asked when he kept silent, gazing into his mug.

Sasuke grunted in affirmative and sipped on his tea.

"Are you going to tell me what it is? For Mama, it has to be something special," Sarada wheedled him, but he only smirked into his drink without saying a word. Sarada pouted cutely.

"That big heart looks like it's for someone special," Sasuke used the opportunity to change the topic and get back to what he was the most curious about. Did his daughter start dating some boy? Who was it? And most importantly: was he strong enough to withstand a Chidori current for a minute and not pass out?

"Oh, this one? Yeah, it's for someone very precious to me. I care about this person a lot," Sarada said. "We went through so much together for all these years. I made this big heart chocolate because it's the best way to show my true feelings properly."

Sasuke paused, mind racing. The things between Sarada and this boy sounded very serious. She said it had been going on for years and he had no idea! Sakura would have told him if she knew anything about that, so... Sarada was hiding it from both of them? Wasn't she too young to think about dating? Just who was this boy? Why was he sneaking behind Sasuke's back? Was he dangerous? Sasuke had the sudden urge to grab his sword and go have a nice, long chat with the boy. As Sarada's father, he should make a few things clear to him.

Sarada burst out laughing. "Papa, your face! Hahaha! I got you! You really thought I had a secret boyfriend, didn't you?"

Sasuke's murderous frown disappeared, though he was irritated at himself for letting his imagination carry him away. However, the relief that it was only a ruse was much stronger.

"Aa, you got me," he admitted ruefully.

His daughter apparently had a devilish side that liked to make fun of her old man. He had a feeling she might have actually inherited that gene from him, as he enjoyed teasing Sakura and bickering with Naruto quite a lot.

"Then who is this big chocolate for?" Sasuke asked after Sarada finally calmed her giggles.

"It's for Chouchou. She's my best friend and she loves chocolate! She'd be upset if I didn't get her any," Sarada explained.

Ah. The Akimichi girl. Sasuke nodded to himself. The girl looked like she packed away as much food as her father at the same age. It made sense Sarada would give her a chocolate big enough to satisfy a large appetite.

"You looked very scary for a moment there, Papa. Are you that worried about me?" Sarada asked.

Sasuke closed his eyes and exhaled softly. If she only knew how young and fragile she seemed to him right then... But he wasn't going to hurt her pride by saying that. Sarada was a strong kunoichi in her own right.

"You're my daughter. There will always be people that would try to take advantage of you, by whatever means necessary. You need to be careful," Sasuke simply cautioned.

"I can handle myself." Sarada said reassuringly, patting his arm. "And I already have an important goal. I wouldn't waste my time on romance." She flashed him a confident smile.

Sasuke chose not to comment that he had thought the same, but his heart had had different ideas. In time, Sarada would also learn the same lesson. But she'd have her father watching out for her, so she wouldn't repeat the same mistakes.

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AN: Happy Valentine's Day! I came up with a little different type of story than a usual ship fic for this occasion. I thought it would be interesting to highlight the father-daughter relationship in context of Valentine's.

Please let me know what you think about the story :)


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